ACTA — Legal principle
20.10.2010
Question for written answer P-8950/2010
to the Commission
Rule 117
Jan Philipp Albrecht (Verts/ALE)
Article 2.14.1 of ACTA contains a definition of commercial scale, as follows: ‘For the purposes of this section, acts carried out on a commercial scale include at least those carried out as commercial activities for direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage’. Footnote 9 of ACTA says that, ‘Each Party shall treat wilful importation or exportation of counterfeit trademark goods or pirated copyright goods on a commercial scale as unlawful activities subject to criminal penalties under this article. A Party may comply with its obligation relating to exportation and importation of pirated copyright or counterfeit trademark goods by providing for distribution, sale or offer for sale of counterfeit trademark goods or pirated copyright goods on a commercial scale as unlawful activities subject to criminal penalties’.
- —Has the Commission assessed the compatibility of the definition of commercial scale in ACTA with the requirements of the legality principle of criminal law?
- —Does the Commission deem it appropriate to extend criminal responsibility in a footnote, as is done in footnote 9?
OJ C 249 E, 26/08/2011